“Why?” She looked at him with curiosity but not suspicion.
“Because I’m sitting next to a pretty girl in the moonlight, and I have a nice cold beer in my hand, and I’d like to hear a story.” And you need to keep talking because if you stop, I’m going to start kissing you.
She smiled. “Wow. The lack of Internet on this island is really getting to you, isn’t it?”
“Quit being evasive. Tell me about the guy with the wig and the scrawny, disappointed wife.”
She laughed, and every time she did that it felt like winning a blue ribbon. “Fine. Reed was my high school sweetheart. Everyone thought we’d get married, even me, right up until the time Nick showed up.”
“Nick, Chloe’s father?”
“One and the same. As you can imagine, the dating pool here is pretty limited, but the unspoken rule on the island is that local girls do not fraternize with the out-of-state college boys. It’s a good rule, and one that I broke.”
“So he was the skinny-dipper?”
She nodded and took an extra-large gulp from her bottle. “Yep. Maybe if I’d known about dopamine then, I could have saved myself a lot of trouble, but instead, I fell into what I thought was the forever kind of love. When he left at the end of the season, I went with him, back to Texas, but we swung through Vegas first and got married.”
Ryan took a long pull from his own beer. “It sounds kind of romantic, in a doomed sort of way.”
“Exactly. I think Nick was rebelling just as much as I was. His parents had some pretty specific expectations for him. He was supposed to become a lawyer and then a judge, just like his daddy.”
“And that’s not what he wanted?”
“I’m not sure he knew what he wanted, but for a while he convinced himself it was me. By the time we figured out we’d made a huge mistake, I was already pregnant with Chloe. Harlan shut me out completely for about a year after that. Brooke finally negotiated a peace treaty, but it’s not ideal. Now that I have a daughter, I have a slightly better understanding of how my dad felt, but the good news is, I see signs of a thaw. Maybe. Now you know all about my family. Tell me about yours. You have two brothers, right?”
Ryan nodded. “Jack and Bryce.”
“And one of them has been married three times?” She sounded a little incredulous, with good reason.
“Yep. That would be Bryce. We like to say he never met a woman he wouldn’t like to divorce someday.”
Emily couldn’t help but laugh, partly because it was funny, and partly because she was happy to be sitting here on Gigi’s porch with Ryan Taggert. “How about your other brother? Is Jack married?”
Ryan chuckled and looked down at his beer. “No, Jack has never been married.”
“Why is that funny?”
“Well, he asked a girl once, but she said no.”
Ryan sounded awfully lighthearted about this.
“Hmm, still not getting why that’s funny. It seems kind of rotten.”
His chuckle became more of a hearty chortle. “It’s totally awful. Especially since he proposed to her during the first ten minutes of a hot-air balloon ride.” Full-on laughter overtook him.
“No, he didn’t!” Emily covered her mouth with one hand, trying to comprehend the humiliation, in spite of Ryan’s indication of the opposite.
“He did. It was awkward. I was there videotaping the whole thing.”
“No.” Certain moments in life should not be captured on film, and this had to fall under that category. Yet, Ryan’s gleeful laughter made her giggle. Obviously it wasn’t a painful memory for him, even if it might be for his brother.
“That is the saddest story I’ve ever heard. She said no, and then they had to hang around in that wicker basket until the balloon landed? How long was that?”
“A full hour. The pilot couldn’t land sooner than that because the pickup crew wasn’t ready. Plus, Jack had told some friends he was going to propose, so there was a group of people waiting for us to come down. I think the only thing that stopped him from jumping out of that basket was thinking he’d only break his legs and not be put out of his misery.”
“That is so awful.” And it was, but now she was laughing, too.
“Yep. People were cheering as the balloon came down, but as soon as they saw our faces, they quieted down pretty fast. At least Jack got his three hundred dollars back. The balloon pilot felt so sorry for him that he refunded the money. Jack and I went out and spent it on tequila. The rest of the night is a little hazy after that, but I sure wish I could forget the next morning.”
“A little hungover?”
“A little.”
They laughed again, and each took a drink, and Emily couldn’t resist asking. “So, how about you? Have you ever been married?”
They were both turned now, facing each other. His arm was still stretched across the back of the seat, his hand sending lovely tremors through her with every casual caress.
“No, I’ve never been married.”
“Ever been close?”
He paused but didn’t look away. “There was a girl once. Felt like the real deal, but the timing was off. I think if we’d gone forward it would have ended badly. It was a pretty long time ago, though. I haven’t thought about it much since then.”
“No?”
He set his beer on the porch. “No, not really. Do you know what I have been thinking about a lot lately, though? Like, incessantly?”
“What?”
He took her beer and set it next to his.
“Kissing you.” He moved closer. “Sacramento, San Antonio. Tag. Lilly. I just don’t care about any of that stuff.” He brought a hand up to cup her jaw. “I’m not sure what happens next week, Emily, or next month, but what I am absolutely certain of is that I like you. I like being around you, and I definitely like kissing you, very much.”
The list of obstacles and reasons and consequences evaporated from her mind at his words and his touch. Ryan was right. None of those things mattered in the moonlight here on the porch. Details could be sorted out later, because right now she needed him. She hadn’t felt this way since . . . ever.
His hand was warm on her face as he leaned closer, brushing his lips across her cheek. “Just one little kiss,” he whispered, but she didn’t want just one. She wanted him to kiss her over and over again. And then some more. The porch swing swayed and creaked as they moved closer. His hands slid up to tangle in her hair, as if he wanted to capture the moment in his grasp, and finally he kissed her. His breath was warm, his lips soft but insistent, and Emily gave in to all of it. The delicious anticipation, the satisfaction of pulling him close, the pleasure of just being with him.
Kisses and caresses, sighs and whispers. Emily was enthralled as it continued. The swing protested again, but they ignored it, pushing pillows off to give them a little more room.